Karachi Smolders again!
By Perwaiz Ahmad
Fullerton, CA

The horrific spectacle of bullets flying right, left and center near the Karachi Airport on May 12 with not a single law enforcement official or policeman inclined to check violence was ample proof that the government - local as well as federal – appeared firm to scuttle the rally organized by supporters of suspended Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on that fateful day. That the government is afraid of the outcome of its botched decision to relieve the CJ of his duties without the due process of law was all too obvious.
Our founding fathers must be turning in their graves while the leaders of their party are embroiled in the struggle to hold on to power at any cost. Once again, the hopes of Pakistanis have been shattered because the President has made some wrong moves in the recent past and the Chief Justice has shown the courage and audacity (unprecedented in the history of Pakistan ) to say NO to the dictates of the ruling class.
Rather than admitting the mistake made by some unscrupulous advisers, our once beloved President resorted to the tactics of his predecessors - Ayub Khan, Bhutto, Zia ul Haq and the likes - to name a few. Power is contagious and anyone who ascends to the seat of the presidency, the most powerful position in any country, changes his/her ideology and exit plan after the initial 90-day period has passed away and unabashedly sticks to the chair as if with a "super duper glue".
The argument by the government - local and federal - that the opposition is making the CJ issue a political one is nothing but hogwash and gibberish because it concerns every citizen - man , woman or child of Pakistan. That the common man is protecting the chair, not the person who was in the chair when the unfortunate situation occurred, does not take a rocket scientist to figure out. A Supreme Court that cannot act independently cannot protect the rights of the citizens; it merely becomes a government entity that is laced with red tape, favoritism and nepotism. When the Supreme Court is under siege by the Head of the State or is under his thumb, as it has been for the last 60 years, the basic rights of the citizens are trampled upon and any lofty claim to build the nation proves an exercise in futility. Now that the government is cornered it is trying every means to discredit the opposition.
Immigrants from the partition days (1947) who are now retired had high hopes when the MQM came into being and thought that they would finally get justice. With the rise of the MQM, they thought that the locals will be the masters of their destiny but it seems that their hopes have faded away while the MQM has lost the steam and focus on its agenda, which was to protect the life and property of the people in their own jurisdiction. The MQM must stick to its manifesto, regardless of ethnicity, and treat all Pakistanis alike, even if they disagree with its viewpoint or priorities.


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Editor: Akhtar M. Faruqui
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